270.000 subscriptions sold in first month of 49-euro Dutch train ticket
Image credit: Dutchmen Photography / Shutterstock.com
By Simone Jacobs
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In the first month since NS introduced the 49-euro ticket for Dutch trains, 270.000 people have taken out a subscription. Sign-ups for the so-called Nederland Dal Vrij subscription are only available until the end of July and are only valid for the summer.
Nederland Dal Vrij subscription taken out 270.000 times
On June 15, Dutch rail operator NS launched the Nederland Dal Vrij subscription, a 49-euro ticket that allows passengers unlimited travel on all Dutch trains during off-peak hours and weekends.
The travel pass was so popular that the NS website crashed when thousands of residents tried to purchase the subscription after its launch. 20.000 tickets were sold in a few hours, and a month down the line, a total of 270.000 residents have opted in for the subscription.
According to an NS press release, 120 million kilometres have already been travelled using the summer discount pass. Over 30 percent of subscribers for the travel pass, equivalent to over 80.000 passengers, did not previously have an NS subscription. “This indicates that an increasing number of travellers who previously did not travel by train, or travelled less frequently, are now boarding,” wrote NS.
NS summer travel pass only available for purchase until end of July
The summer discount ticket is essentially the NS Flex Dal Vrij ticket, which has been temporarily discounted from the usual 127,95 euros per month to 49 euros. It was first proposed as an additional measure in the government’s 1-billion-euro crisis relief package, intended to support residents facing rising prices due to the war in the Middle East.
Residents can only purchase the discount subscription until July 31, after which it will be valid until August 31. If travellers fail to cancel the subscription in time, it will be renewed at the normal higher rate. According to NS, travellers will be reminded “via email that they must cancel the subscription on time via ns.nl if they do not wish to renew it”.
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Editor for the Netherlands at IamExpat Media. Simone studied Genetics and Zoology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa before moving to the Netherlands, where she has been working as a writer and editor since 2022. One thing she loves more than creating content is consuming it, mainly by reading books by the dozen. Other than being a book dragon, she is also a nature lover and enjoys hiking and animal training.Read more